Godfrey FPD makes first rescue with new CPR system

GODFREY — Just four months after becoming the first fire department in the state to receive a groundbreaking CPR system, the Godfrey Fire Protection District made their first save using the new technology.

The district received the ResQCPR system in May. The system is made up of two components — a suction cup about the size of a toilet plunger used on the patient’s chest, and a pod that connects to a breathing bag and regulates airflow to help the victim breathe at near-normal levels. Used together, the devices improve blood flow to the brain and vital organs, and increase the likelihood of survival.

District personnel trained on the new system throughout the summer, and it paid off on Friday. That evening, district firefighters-EMTs responded to a call of a 54-year-old male who was unresponsive and not breathing.

The system’s pump was placed on the patient’s chest, and compression and decompression CPR was initiate. The responders quickly applied defibrillation pads and a shock was delivered, and then reapplied the ResQ system.

The responders said the patient went from ashen grey to a flushed color in the face, indicating the system was producing circulation. The cardiac monitor re-analyzed and after a second shock, the patient regained a pulse and began breathing.

Approximately eight minutes after dispatch, the second district engine arrived with an ambulance from Lifestar EMS. The patient was transported to a local hospital with two district firefighter-EMTs riding along to assist Lifestar personnel. The patient regained consciousness and personnel said the patient was making eye contact and could understand simple commands in the back of the ambulance.

After receiving critical care at a local hospital, the patient was transferred to a St. Louis hospital for specialty care five days later. On August 10, just eight days after the event, the patient was discharged with no mental or physical deficits. He went back to work the very same day he was discharged from the hospital.

“We are committed to providing our citizens with the highest quality of care and best chance of survival from cardiac arrest,” said Fire Chief Erik Kambarian. “This new system has already proven to be very effective and we will continue to improve our response to cardiac arrest events.”

Kambarian and Assistant Chief Eric Cranmer will attend a resuscitation symposium in Minneapolis later this month to learn more about the system. They will meet the inventor of ResQCPR, Dr. Keith Lurie, and join him at a National Institute of Health funded research facility to study cardiac arrest and observe cutting-edge resuscitation technology, interventions and protocols.

The district is also becoming a member of a state-wide quality assurance and quality improvement project called Illinois Heart Rescue. The project is tasked with doubling neurologically intact survival for victims of cardiac arrest over a five-year period. As a cornerstone to this project, the district will report cardiac arrest data to the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival, or CARES.

Zoll Medical Corp., a Massachusetts-based company that makes a myriad of cardiac resuscitation devices, is the company behind ResQCPR.

For more information about Godfrey Fire Protection District, visit www.godfreyfire.com. For more information about ResQCPR, visit www.zoll.com/medical-products/impedance-threshold-device/resqcpr.